A statement by vice president of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) Moqbel Shaker, that rejects the idea of international monitoring of Egyptian elections, has raised controversy both within the council and among human rights organizations in Egypt. “International monitoring gives credibility to elections,” said NCHR member Hafez Abu Seada. “It has become the norm all over the world.” Abu Seada added that international monitoring should not be considered as interference in Egypt's internal affairs. “Egypt has participated in supervising elections in Iraq, Sudan and Algeria under the Arab League,” he pointed out. “How can the vice president reject international monitoring, when he allowed ambassadors of foreign countries to visit the council's operations room when it was following up on the last Shura Council elections?” he asked. In a related development, the Civil Coalition for Election Monitoring, which comprises 130 human rights organizations, will meet on Wednesday to announce its election monitoring plan. “The coalition will appoint 3000 monitors for this task,” Abu Seada said. “It will issue a unified report, signed on by all member organizations, to avoid the discrepancies that were held against it in previous elections.” Ahmed Samih, director of the Andalus Center for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies, said the coalition will not cooperate with the NCHR, which he said is incapable of coordinating with the various organizations of the coalition and the election supervision committee. “NCHR Secretary-General Mahmoud Karem is ignoring the coalition,” said Samih. “He didn't answer any of the questions asked by the coalition.” Karem denied the allegations, saying, “The council's doors are open to everyone.” Translated from the Arabic Edition.
